All In The Past
Tranquil sat at the table, the cup of tea in between her hooves long since cold. Her expression was one of immense confusion, sadness and hurt. She had just wanted to get to know him better. She knew that she had touched a nerve, and wanted nothing more than to apologise. But when she had gone upstairs to do so, she had heard crying. She looked up when she heard a commotion from the front of the house.
“I can’t believe you asked me that!”
“It was a perfectly reasonable question.”
The mare sighed at the sound of her husband and daughter arguing.
“Maybe if we weren’t out in public!” Rainbow Dash yelled angrily. “Hey mom,” she said as she entered the kitchen. “What happened?”
Is it that obvious? Tranquil wondered to herself. “Your... your coltfriend locked himself in your room.”
“What?” Thunderhead stepped into the kitchen. “Did you do something?”
“I don’t know,” Tranquil moaned. “I just wanted to get him to open up, to tell me about himself. When I asked him about his mother - ”
“Wait,” Rainbow said suddenly, cutting her mother off. “You asked him about his mother?” she asked, dreading the answer.
“Yes. Did... did something happen between them?”
Rainbow sighed. “It’s not something he likes to talk about. It took him five weeks before he told me.” She remembered how hard it had been for him. How deeply he wanted to keep that part of his life a secret, a burden only for him to bear. “I need to talk to him.”
As their daughter disappeared upstairs, Tranquil turned to Thunderhead. “Why was she so upset before?”
“I asked her if they’re making sure to practise safe sex,” the stallion replied hesitantly.
The violet-maned pegasus stared at the storm-grey stallion in shock. “And you asked her that in public?” she asked, unbelieving of her husband’s apparent stupidity.
Rainbow Dash eased open the door to the bedroom, poking her head in. “Postie?” she asked quietly. “Are you okay?”
She couldn’t see much in the gloom, but she didn’t need to. There, plain as day, in the middle of the huge mattress, lay her coltfriend. His eyes were red and puffy, his breathing was irregular, his face was stained with tears and his ears were plastered to his head. He didn’t answer, instead continuing to sob.
Rainbow hesitated before going over and laying next to him, pulling him close with a wing. She didn’t know what to say in this situation, simply letting him cry into her mane.
“I miss her,” the stallion sobbed. “I-It’s been three years and I still miss her.” Rainbow responded by making a series of soothing noises, unsure what to say. “I-I should have gotten over this by now. I shouldn’t be - ”
“Look at me,” Rainbow said suddenly. Postie pulled away slightly to look into her eyes. “Don’t ever let me hear you saying anything like that ever again. You are not weak, you are not pathetic, and you are not stupid.” Her voice was harsh, but her eyes were soft. She leaned over and kissed him. “Don’t you ever think that.”
The sobbing stopped, making Rainbow think that her coltfriend had managed to pull himself together. “You don’t know how lucky you are,” Postie said without warning. Rainbow simply raised an eyebrow, confused by his sudden statement. “No-one wanted to be my friend when I was growing up. You know why?” Before she could respond, he let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Because I didn’t have a dad. Just because...” He began to shake. “Just because I was different!” he managed to choke out.
Rainbow just pulled him tighter, hoping the contact would help.
“Mom cared for me, but she was never around when I needed it. She had to work two jobs to keep a roof over our heads. I’d wake up, and she’d be gone, working. Nothing but a note telling me not to forget my homework.” Postie’s tears had stopped flowing, but somehow that just made things worse. “She was only ever around on weekends, but all she did was sleep.”
Rainbow just lay there in silence, taking it all in. He had never gone into that much detail before, instead simply stating that his life hadn’t been easy before.
“When she wasn’t sleeping...” Post Haste took a deep breath. “You remember I said that my mother died of cancer, right?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow said quietly.
“That... wasn’t exactly true.” There was a lengthy pause, one that seemed to indicate that it wouldn’t end. “My mom... every night, she would drink herself to sleep. For more than fifteen years, she would do that. Eventually, she did get cancer. After she knew she was sick, she kept on drinking, though. One day, she mixed the alcohol with...” The stallion let out a shuddering breath as he tried, yet again, to hold back the tears. “She mixed them with sleeping pills. She didn’t wake up,” he finished, his voice barely above a hoarse whisper, the tears back in full force.
“Oh Postie...” Rainbow crooned. “I’m so sorry.” She pulled him closer, not even noticing how damp her mane and coat had become.
“I think... I think she wanted to do that for so long. That the only reason she didn’t was... well, me.” There was another uncomfortable pause. “She suffered for so long because of me. It’s all my fault...”
“That’s not true,” Rainbow said quietly, as reassuringly as she could. “It’s not your fault. Your mom just wanted you to turn out right.” She pecked him lightly on the cheek. “If she saw you now, she’d be so proud.”
“Do you really think that?”
“I know it.”
There was more silence, but this time it seemed more pleasant. The two pegasi just lay there, Rainbow’s presence doing wonders for the depressed stallion.
“Rainbow?” Postie asked, his voice a lot calmer.
“Yeah?”
“Could you just... stay here with me for a while? I don’t want to be alone right now.”
“You need to ask? Of course I will.”
Author’s Notes:
Okay, I can’t help but worry that I’m laying the emotional stuff on WAY too heavy here. I know that HiEs (yes, this is the sequel to a HiE) usually have the human with a horrible past. I suppose even I couldn’t avoid that.
And yes, this chapter is really short, I know. Honestly, I can’t really figure out what else it needs, so any more words will just be padding for padding’s sake.
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Also, an apology for how late this is. I just got very stuck.
We will consider forgiving you for being this late.
Maybe.
432988 consider yourself forgiven Tony
432559
You now can has forgiveness
I forgive you.
Wow, this chapter was deep. It also added more to the character of Post Haste.
This chapter was sad, but it was also a good one.
443301
OH THANK CELESTIA!
I was really worried that I was being too... I can't think of the word at the moment, but it certainly isn't a good one. I'm just glad that Postie's past doesn't come across as, well, over the top.
It is really sad, but it's also sadly believeable. I mean, stuff like that really does happen on Earth sometimes, unfortunately. Everyone grieves differently, and losing your mother at an ealy aged is very sad and can be traumatising, such as is this case.
Please keep up the really good work.
443354
Actually, I never really specify his age. Just realised that...
I've always thought of Post Haste as being in his early 20s, around 21, maybe. So not that young. Still, to have the only one who was there at all for you to take their own life...
Yeah, traumatizing.
443375 I may have been identifying with Postie. I lost my Mom 8 years ago when I was 12, so I guess that I was just projecting part of my life as a part of his life when I was reading this. It was different for me: There were plenty of other people there for me, and Mom didn't take her own life, she was murdered. It was still traumatizing anyway.
do not hesitate on putting in emotional elements...doesn't matter what story type it is